Simply Because
by ZenBabe
Summary: Jake and Peyton unexpectedly meet again in college after he went away to Savannah in their junior year. Can they start things up again?
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hey guys! So, I'm posting this Jeyton fic that I co-wrote with my twin sister over a year ago, so it's probably not our best work, lol. But I still wanted to give it a try to see what you guys thought. So this first chapter was written by her. I hope you like it!**

**Simply Because**

**Chapter 1**

Peyton looked out the window. All she saw was blue, blue everywhere. She was sitting on a plane, the plane that would take her from Tree Hill to Berkeley, California for college. After Brooke had moved, Peyton had been so alone, sure, she had Haley, but she still missed her best friend. And plus, Jake was still in Savannah, still not answering her e-mails. So, when she got into Berkeley, she jumped at the opportunity to go to school with Brooke. Lucas was going there too, so she knew this year wasn't going to be boring.

He was actually sitting right next to her, asleep, listening to his iPod in silence. Lucas had become sort of a substitute Jake. He never left her side, and always listened to her when she needed to talk, she did the same for him.

Peyton's mind again drifted to Jake. When he had gone to Savannah, she hadn't thought it would be the end between them. She had written him e-mails up until this very summer. He hadn't answered one, he hadn't come to visit, nothing. Peyton barely remembered his voice, but she remembered exactly how he looked, exactly how he laughed, and exactly how she fell for him...

"Peyton!", Brooke squealed as she saw her best friend walk towards her at the airport. The two girls hugged each other while Lucas stood in the background, smiling at them.

"I guess I'll get the bags.", Lucas said, faking annoyance.

"Thanks," said Brooke as she took Peyton's arm and dragged her away. Lucas then, had no choice but to pick up the suitcases and follow them to the parking lot.

---

They had been there for a while now. Brooke and Peyton were sharing a dorm room and Lucas had his own apartment, payed for by Daddy-dearest. Brooke spent most of her time there, giving Peyton time to draw her sketches in quiet for class. She was a visual arts major, Brooke, on the other hand, well, no one really knew what her major was.

Peyton loved Berkeley, there was a great music store she went to almost every weekend, Rasputin, and any kind of food you wanted, wether it was burgers or Indian, it was there. She had learned her way across campus quickly. Her favorite place was the park, it was just like a huge lawn with a bunch of trees everywhere. She brought her iPod and sketch book there to draw about what was on her mind.

One day, while she was walking around, she saw tapped on a tree, a flyer. It said:

Baby Sitter needed! Please call 548-9926 for J.J.

Peyton didn't know why, but she grabbed it and stuck it in her bag. It brought her back to three years ago, when she would take care of Jenny...

---

"OK, yeah, I'll tell her for you Haley. Well, actually she got this baby-sitting gig so, she won't be all alone. He's a single father, so, who knows what could happen?..." Brooke had been talking to Haley on the phone for the past hour. Haley and Nathan were at UCLA, also in California, so that she could follow music and he could play basketball.

Peyton looked at her watch. Damn, she thought, she was five minutes late to babysit. She quickly rushed out of the dorm, just grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder before she walked out into the morning air. Peyton had made sure that all her classes were in the afternoon. J.J., the guy she was sitting for, however, had all his classes in the morning, so it worked out perfectly. She ran all the way to his dorm, and when she got there she was out of breath.

She quickly set her wild hair as much as she could before taking a deep breath and knocking on dorm room 23...

---

**AN: Ok, guys, I know there wasn't any Jeyton, but there will be!!!! I bet you guys can guess what happens...Anyways please review! Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Thank you so much for the reviews to this story. I know right now it may not be that interesting because I'm still setting it all up, but there will be a lot of Jeyton, I promise! Thanks so much to: jeytonlover, OTH.daddy'sgurl.06, and onetreefan!!**

**---**

**Chapter 2**

A tall blonde guy opened the door to room 23. "Can I help you?" He asked at the girl in front of him. Peyton didn't know why she was so shocked. Who was she expecting to see? Surely not... She didn't let herself finish that thought. 'Snap out of it!' She told herself.

"Um, I'm here for the baby-sitting job. Peyton Sawyer." She said extending her hand which he shook.

"Stuart McNeal." He said only to confuse Peyton.

"But I thought the flyer said JJ. Oh, God, did I get the wrong room. I'm such a spaz; I'm really sorry." She said all nervous and starting to turn around when Stuart stopped her, lightly laughing at her.

"No no no. Don't worry. JJ's my roommate. But he had to go to class, and actually so do I. So you can just make yourself at home. Jenny's still sleeping right now, but you can make her something to eat if she's hungry when she wakes up." He was about to leave when Peyton said,

"Wait, Jenny?"

"Yeah, his daughter," He stated, and when she didn't answer him he added, "You know, the one you're here to baby-sit?" Peyton just nodded, still in utter shock. He left the dorm looking back at her as if she were crazy.

Jenny, Jenny, Jenny... The name repeated itself over and over again in Peyton's mind and the image of the beautiful baby girl that she had once spent so much time with came into her head. She found herself short of breath. Was she imagining it all? I mean, how many kids her age at kids now a days? How many had kids named Jenny? Of all the schools in all the country could Jake really be going to the same one as Peyton?

She had to get to the bottom of this. Even if she was totally out of line and crazy for thinking there was even the slightest chance that... that... something suddenly clicked in her head. J.J.! Those would be the exact same initials as... as Jake! So how many JJ's were there with a daughter named Jenny? Not many, Peyton guessed. But she didn't let herself assume so fast. She walked over to their phone, clicked the button to turn on their answering machine, then took out her cell phone and dialed the number she remembered from the flyer.

It rang once... twice... three times and then there was a beep "Hi you've reached Stuart McNeal and Jake Jegelski's place, leave a message at the beep!" For the few seconds between the end of the message and the beep she could hear the faint noise of a guitar in the background. It had been Stuart's voice on the message but definitely Jake's guitar in the back. Peyton's breaths were getting shorter and shorter. She felt tears coming to her eyes. She didn't know if she should jump for joy or collapse from misery.

For years, ever since he had left, she had been waiting till the day he would come back into her life. Now that that day had come she didn't know what to do! Tears were in her eyes but she didn't let any of them drop. She stood still for the longest time until she heard the sound of the machine saying "You have reached the maximum time for you're message, please hang up." She felt foolish and hung up her cell phone and pressed the delete message on their machine.

When she regained her strength she walked over to the room she guessed was one of the bedrooms. She was still shaking a little but what she saw when she entered the room just shook her up more. Soundly asleep in a cot, next to a bunk-bed, was Jenny Jegelski.

---

**AN: OK i know it's really short!!! SORRY! But i hope you liked it!!! The next chapters will be REALLY interesting i promise!!! Please REPLY!!!! thx so much!!!**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Thank you guys so much for the wonderful reviews: onetreefan, jeytonlover, hyacynthia ****and OTH.daddy'sgurl.06!! **

---

**Chapter 3**

Peyton watched Jenny sleep for a while. She tried to see if Jenny had changed, she first looked closely at her face. It was the same as she remembered, she really did have her father's eyebrows. She looked at Jenny more closely, wanting to memorize the way she looked, just in case this was the last time she would see her. She noticed that the sleeping girl in front of her was holding something in her hands. She looked closer and saw a set of keys held tightly in Jenny's hand. Peyton smiled to herself, remembering the first time she had ever really sat for Jenny, it seemed like so long ago...

Jenny woke up slowly, "Who are you?", she asked Peyton. She had known that a new sitter was coming, but she was still surprised to find this stranger in her room.

"I'm Peyton, you're new sitter. So, Jenny, do you want some breakfast?"

Jenny just nodded and they both got up to go to the kitchen (Jake had a special dorm room).

Peyton opened the cupboards as Jenny sat down at the table, still a little sleepy.

"Trix or Lucky Charms?", Peyton asked her, pulling out both boxes of cereal, milk, and two bowls and spoons.

"Luck Charms," Jenny replied. She was finally completely awake, and something struck her about this new babysitter. Something about her: her voice, or her hair, something was familiar to her.

"That's my favorite too.", Peyton said with a smile that was reserved just for Jenny, and she prepared their cereal. They ate at opposite sides of the table, alternating eating and looking at each other until Jenny decided to break the silence.

"Where do you come from?", she figured that maybe if she found out more about Peyton, she would know why she recognized her.

"A small town in North Carolina, Tree Hill. I lived there until I came here for college, and ever since I was born."

"Really?", Jenny said, happily, "That's where I was born too! I lived there until I was about one, my dad says, and then we went to Savannah."

"Oh," Peyton said, she felt her heart start racing at the mention of Jenny's dad, Jake. There was an awkward silence...

The rest of the day passed by fine. Peyton didn't have classes that afternoon, she started the day after, so she stayed the whole day. They ended the day with a traditional story reading. Once Jenny was asleep, Peyton got up and started looking around. Just a little snooping couldn't hurt, she thought. Besides, she really wanted to know what his life was like now.

She saw some baby pictures, and a basket ball trophy. There were some DVDs, all comedies, and his old jersey, #00. After looking around, she decided to sit down and clear her head. She couldn't stop thinking about finally seeing Jake. She was happy and excited, but Jake coming back into her life also brought back anger. He hadn't answered any of her e-mails, he hadn't called, he had just left. She kept imagining when they would come face to face, what would she say to him? And then, she just fell asleep on the couch.

---

Jake got home late, after basket-ball practice. He had heard a little about the sitter from his roommate. Stuart had told him that the sitter had blonde, curly hair, and had kinda creeped him out when she found out who she was actually sitting for. Jake's heart had leapt when he heard about the curly hair, Peyton, he thought. But, surely it wasn't her, it was just some girl. There were probably a thousand different girls with curly, blonde hair on this campus, it could be any one of them.

He walked through the door noticing that Stuart wasn't home yet, and that the baby-sitter must still be here. He put his jacket on the kitchen table and took out his wallet. The lights were off, and since he didn't want to wake the sitter, at least not yet, he decided to check up on his daughter. As he had thought, she was sound asleep with the keys in her hand, another reminder of Peyton. He bent down to kiss her lightly on the forehead and walked out.

He decided to turn on the lights, it would be pointless to conduct a sitter search if he couldn't see. And when he did, he saw Peyton asleep on the couch.

"Peyton?!", he yelled out of surprise and woke her up immediately. She sat up and looked around.

"Peyton, what are you doing here?", Jake asked, in a lower voice.

She looked at him, unsure of what to say. God, she must look horrible, she thought, and smoothed out her hair.

"Ummm...", she started, once she had composed herself, "Baby-sitting."

---

**AN: How will the rest of the conversation go? Review and find out! Thanks so much for reading guys!**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Thanks so much for the reviews to: OTH.daddy'sgurl.06, gilmoregrly4life, jeytonlover, and Sophi20! You guys are great! I know that right now this story may not be that great, but I promise it gets better! I think I grew a lot as a writer while writing this. Thanks so much for sticking around!**

**Chapter 4**

Peyton and Jake had been talking for a little bit, but just small talk. Jake was still standing, not knowing where to sit. _Sit across from her_, he thought, _and you won't be able to focus because you'll be staring at the beautiful girl across you_. _Or rather, the beautiful woman._ _Sit next to her, and that will create even more tension between them._ So he remained standing up.

"So... uh, how are you?" Jake asked, thinking of nothing better to say.

"Fine. And you?" Peyton asked.

"Fine." Pause. They both noticed this awkward silence and didn't like it. So Jake decided to continue. "I got full custody of Jenny... a couple months ago... So, that's good." Jake said, wondering what her reaction would be.

"For a couple months? Wow, I would have liked to know... I guess your letter got lost in the mail?" Peyton said sarcastically. But her anger was finally coming out. Ok, so this whole Nikki matter made if hard for him to answer her e-mails and she understood that. But you would think that after Jake got full custody of Jenny that he would think to let Peyton know. He knew how much Jenny meant to her.

"I was going to tell you Peyton...-" Jake started, noticing Peyton's harshness in her voice, and not liking where this was going. How did he not see this coming?

"When? Two years wasn't long enough for you to wait to talk to me? I wrote countless e-mails to you and you were to busy with your new life to even tell me you got custody of Jenny? You know how much she means to me, Jake." Peyton's voice was filled with both anger and just sadness.

"I was gonna tell you about that but then I got your last e-mail, and I don't know! I just couldn't! I thought that maybe... i don't know, maybe you didn't want me in your life anymore. Maybe it was best if you just forgot about us- me and Jenny, I mean. You don't know how hard it was for me to leave you that day at the pier. You know I couldn't answer your e-mails, it was too dangerous. There were so many times when all I wanted to do was go back to Tree Hill just to see you again. God, Peyton, it's so good to see you again..." Peyton had tears in her eyes. He couldn't do this to her. Not now. Not after she thought she was over him, which she clearly wasn't. He couldn't be saying all this now after she waited to hear it a long time ago. It was all just too much to handle for her. Tears were streaming down her cheeks by now. When Jake saw her like that it broke his heart. How could he do that to someone he still cared for so much.

"I can't do this." Peyton whispered. Jake was about to say something, but thought it was better just to shut up as he watched Peyton put on her jacket and leave. He stood there for a while, still staring at the spot she had just left. He wished she would come back, he wanted her there so badly. Eventually, after realizing that staring into space wasn't going to bring her back, he bowed his head and went to bed. He hadn't noticed Jenny standing there...

---

"Jake?! Guy who left without a word, Jake?" Brooke asked after Peyton had told her who she was baby-sitting for.

"Yep," Peyton said, and nodded, "I was asleep when he came back and then we talked... kind of."

"Well, what did he say? I mean, he must have said something about not answering your e-mails and stuff. He apologized right?"

"Sort of. He said that he got custody of Jenny and that, after he got my farewell e-mail, he thought I didn't' want to hear from him.", Peyton said, giving Brooke the "reader's digest" version.

"Jerk. I always thought he was better than the others...", Brooke drifted into thought about how she could get him back.

"Brooke!" Peyton said, knowing what she was thinking.

"Sorry," mumbled Brooke, "So, what are you going to do now? I mean, are you going to go back and babysit tomorrow?"

"I don't know. I mean, I love Jenny, and it would probably be really hard for him to find another babysitter at the last minute, but..."

"But?"

"But, I don't know if I can see him again. I'm sick and tired of pinning over a guy that I was never even with in the first place. I really just want to forget about him and move on."

"Peyton," Brooke said, smiling slightly, "You know you don't mean that. I know you think it would be easier to forget about him, I mean, that's how I felt about Luke, but, don't you think that maybe it's fate? What're the odds that you two would end up in the same college, and that you would end up his baby-sitter? It's just too perfect!"

---

Jake woke up early the next morning, his conversation with Peyton still occupying his mind completely. The sound of someone knocking on his door brought him out of his thoughts. And, careful not to wake Jenny, he put a shirt on, and opened the door only to find the last person on his mind on the other side.

"Hi, Jakey!", Brooke said, with a fake smile on her face.

"Uh, hi Brooke. Umm...how are you?", Jake said, a little confused. Did she come to school with Peyton? Had she heard what had happened?

"I'm just great, Jake." she answered with the same fake-cheeriness, "You know, finally reunited with my best friend, only to find that her jackass ex-friend Jake came back after years of being gone!"

"Look, Brooke, keep it down, ok? Jenny's sleeping," he said as he stepped aside so that she could come into his dorm room. "Listen, what do you want me to do, go back in time?"

Brooke didn't go in, "Just, whatever you need to do to make Peyton happy again. Don't forget, I'll be watching you." she said, and raised her eyebrow as she walked back to her dorm.

---

"Hey, baby." Jake said, as Jenny slowly opened her eyes to the sound of a door closing. Brooke had just left.

"Hi, Daddy. Is Peyton coming today? I liked her."

"Um... I don't know sweetie.", Jake said, uncomfortable of the situation.

"Why not? I'll be good, I promise.", Jenny said, climbing into her dad's lap.

"It's a long story kiddo..."

"Is it because you didn't keep in touch with her after we moved?", Jenny asked.

Jake smiled, "How do you know about that?", he said accusingly.

"She told me she grew up in Tree Hill, and I heard you two last night. She said that you never wrote her, and that she cared about me... How did she know me?"

"We went to high-school together, hun, and she baby-sat you when you were little, but then we moved. Look, Jenny, I need to get to class, Peyton will come if she can, and if it means that much to you, I'll try and talk to her tonight, ok?"

"Ok, bye Dad!"

---

**AN: Now, I realize that Jenny probably wouldn't be able to talk like that at that age, but we can pretend, right? It kind of makes for a better story, I think. Anyways, I really hope you guys liked it! The good Jeyton is coming soon I swear! Please leave a review! Thanks!**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Thanks so much for the amazing reviews to: okgo1326, OTH.daddy'sgurl.06, Polia, jeytonlover, and onetreefan! I think that we can all agree that there should definitely still be Jeyton on the show, and not... Leyton... and I love how all of a sudden (probably because of that) I started getting more reviews! Us, Jeyton fans have to stick together, haha! Thanks so much, guys!**

**Chapter 5**

"Stuart!?", Jake yelled as he opened his door, not knowing if Peyton had actually showed, he thought that maybe Stuart had taken over baby-sitting duties.

"Try again!", screamed Peyton, standing from her previous position on the couch watching T.V. with Jenny, who was still entranced by the program. Peyton had a huge smile on her face, something Jake took as a good sign, although he wasn't sure how long her good mood would last, especially with him.

"Peyton," he said a little uneasily, "Uh... hi. So, uh, you came?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't leave Jenny alone with your roommate. He doesn't like Modest Mouse."

_Ok, she was still in a good mood_, thought Jake. He took this as a sign that they could actually have a conversation without him getting beat up.

Jake chuckled slightly, and then just looked at her. He wanted to remember her exactly the way she was, it had been so long since he had seen her. It had been so long since he had heard her laugh, or looked into her eyes, he never wanted to forget her. Peyton blushed under his stare and started sitting back down, but Jake stopped her.

"Peyton? You wanna talk?", he asked, grabbing her arm gently. She looked up at him, scared, and nodded. He dragged her to the bedroom and sat down on his bed, she took a seat on Jenny's right across from him, knowing that she probably shouldn't sit next to him right now if she wasn't going to let her hormones get the best of her.

"You know, I read all your e-mails... Every single one." Jake said, once they were settled.

"Great..." Peyton mumbled, looking at her hands. She had no idea what to say. Seriously, how do you answer that? Did it really matter now, if he hadn't been there to help her? When you write a letter, or 100, for that matter, you're supposed to get a response. Clearly, he hadn't gotten the message.

"Why didn't you answer? Or did you skip that class in Kindergarden?" Peyton asked, sarcastically.

"I-... e-mails can be traced, Peyton, I just couldn't risk it..." he said, choosing to ignore that last comment, he knew she had the right to be angry. "And then, by the time I got full custody of Jenny, I didn't have enough courage to write to you, especially not after that last e-mail you sent me a couple months ago."

There was a silence. Peyton had already known all this, but it didn't make her feel any better. She had gone through rough times when he was gone, to say the least, and he hadn't even cared. He hadn't had the decency to call when he knew she was going through the worst. He could have gotten a friend to e-mail her, he could have called from a pay-phone. There were all these things, he just didn't do and it hurt her.

"I didn't not care, if that's what you think.", Jake said, breaking the silence. Peyton looked up at him. _How did he do that?_ she asked herself. _Was he a mind-reader/ super dad all at once?_ She looked up at him, confused.

"I talked to Luke, after I got custody of Jenny, and told him to keep an eye on you, to make sure you were ok, since I couldn't. I told him to make sure that Brooke and Haley cheered you up when you were sad, and to make sure you didn't get into too much trouble when you were alone."

"That's it?" Peyton asked, wondering what else he had up his sleeve.

"Well," Jake said with a smile, "I also told him to tell me how you were doing, just to make sure that you were good. I guess it made it easier for me to walk away, knowing that you were happy..."

"I wasn't..." Peyton said, looking at the floor.

"What?" he asked.

"Happy. I wasn't happy when you weren't there. I'm not going to pretend to be happy so you can have an excuse to can sleep at night!", Peyton said, getting up. "Look, I'll sit for you, and sure, we'll talk, I guess, but I don't know if it'll ever be more than that."

"Peyton-" He said, but Peyton didn't want to hear it. Tired, frustrated, and in desperate need of some sleep, she interrupted him.

"-I'm going to go now, Jake. I'll see you tomorrow," And with that, she left... and Jake knew it was best to fight that urge he had in his gut to stop her... And although everything in his being was telling him the opposite, maybe this was for the best.

---

**AN: OK I know that's soooo short, but that was a good place I think to end the chapter. The next one is coming soon I swear! Thanks so much for reading, please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Thanks so much for the reviews to: jeytonlover, Polia, marynm, OTH.daddy'sgurl.06, and onetreefan!! You guys are amazing, thanks so much!**

**Chapter 6**

"Jake, I swear, if you don't open this door right now...", an angry Brooke mumbled under her breath. She was standing outside his dorm room, knocking on the door and taping her foot impatiently on the ground. Just as she was about to give up and declare Jake the worst guy on the planet the door swung open.

"Brooke? What're you doing here?", Jake asked confused. Peyton had just left from baby-sitting Jenny. "Peyton just left..."

"Oh, I know," she replied as she stepped past him and sat down at his kitchen table. Jake had no other choice but to do the same.

"So, Jakey," Brooke said with a fake smile plastered on her face, "you want to tell me why my best friend, Peyton, has been crying every day after baby-sitting for you? 'Cause I would really like to know."

Jake felt like the ground had fallen from beneath him and that he was dangling in mid air. _Peyton was crying because of him?_

"I...uh, is Peyton ok?", he asked, worried.

"Oh, let's think," Brooke said sarcastically, "her new employer broke her heart, ran away without a word, came back out of the blue, and now asks how she is... I wonder if she's ok... really, I do."

"Brooke-"

"Of course she's not ok!", Brooke was seriously angry now, "She's crushed, and it's all _your_ fault! Now, I'm not here to argue, I just wanted to discuss your plans of getting her back, or, actually, just getting her considering you never actually _had_ her..."

---

"Night Jenny," Peyton whispered to the already sleeping girl. She slowly got up and started sketching. She sketched Jenny's hands carefully clasping Peyton's own old set of keys. She had been doing this for a week now, drawing and then "accidentally" leaving her sketches behind for Jake. Each day they were different, and each day, Jake was amazed at how beautiful they were.

"Hey, Peyton?" Jake called out into his room.

"Bye," she said in response, forgetting everything and dashing out of the dorm room. Jake chased after her, "Peyton! Come on, just talk to me!"

He caught up with her outside, and turned her around to face him.

"What do you want, Jake?" she answered, sighing, frustrated.

"I want a lot of things, Peyton. Mostly just to be with you," Jake looked into her eyes, and kissed her. He was so relieved when he felt her kiss him back.

---

**AN: Wow, so this chapter was unbelievably short, I will make sure to update really soon. Sorry about that. But I mean, Jeyton is happy, so you're happy right? haha, please review! Thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Hey guys! Sorry about that short chapter last time. That's kind of why I decided to update much sooner than I usually do! Thanks for the reviews to: jeytonlover, OTH.daddy'sgurl.06, Polia, Sophi20, and onetreefan! I hope this story is getting better! **

**Chapter 7**

"You came in late last night," Brooke said, as Peyton walked into their dorm room after her classes and studying in the library.

She blushed and answered, "Yeah, well, you're almost never here. I'm surprised you noticed."

"Lucas and I stayed here last night, not that we would have noticed you if you walked in, but..." Brooke stopped, dreaming about the night she had spent with Lucas.

"Oh, ew, Brooke! Will you please stop thinking disturbing thoughts about Luke so we can talk?" Peyton said, slightly laughing at her best friend. Brooke had been in the clouds ever since she and Lucas had gotten back together.

"Fine," Brooke replied in a mock angry voice, "So, are you the new Ms. Jegelski yet or are you still just a wannabe?"

"The first one."

---

"Daddy, what's for dinner?" Jenny asked Jake, who had just walked in after basketball practice.

"Hey, Angel. I think I'm going to make pasta." Jake answered putting his apron on and he started to boil the water.

"I invited Peyton over for dinner, so make sure you make enough for her," Jenny said as she walked back into her room. She wanted to hear more about Tree Hill, and so she had invited Peyton over while she was baby-sitting earlier that day.

Peyton stood outside the door, smoothing out her hair. She was nervous, it was the first time they had seen each other since their kiss. They had talked afterwards, and had decided to just feel it out. They would take things one step at a time, at a pace they were both comfortable with.

She took a deep breathe and knocked on the door.

"I'll get it! I'll get it!" Jenny yelled as she ran for the door and swung in open. "Peyton!" she yelled as they hugged.

Peyton laughed and Jenny dragged her towards the table.

"Hey Jake!" Peyton said, looking back at him. _Damn_, she thought, _he looks good in an apron._

He just smiled at her and went back to his cooking.

"Peyton, tell me more about Tree Hill," Jenny said eagerly, sitting on Peyton's lap.

"Ok, girly girl, I'll tell you. Well, when I was going to school there, everyone went to Tree Hill High, and anyone that was anyone followed the Ravens' basketball team."

"Daddy, weren't you on the team?" Jenny asked Jake, who was setting the table and bringing out the food.

"Yeah, Jenny. I was," He replied.

"So, anyways, I used to cheer with my best friend Brooke Davis. She's a lot like you, actually, very energetic. You can meet her one day, if you want. She can teach you all kinds of stuff. Like boys and make-up..." Peyton said this to Jake, in a joking voice.

Jake looked at her, stunned, "Uh, you probably won't meet Brooke for a while, hun," he said, and Peyton burst out laughing.

"Tell me more, Peyton! What did you do?" asked Jenny, impatiently.

"Ok, well, my mom died when I was little so I grew up with my dad and Brooke, pretty much. And I had a boyfriend, Nathan, for a while and then I dated Lucas, you can meet him too, for a little bit, and now, I'm here."

"How did you and Daddy meet?"

"We met at practices, since she cheered and I played. And she used to sit for you." Jake answered. He didn't want to answer questions anymore, scared that she would ask about when they left for Savannah. "But, enough with the questions, Jenny, let's eat." he said, and the rest of the meal went on without the past.

---

**AN: OK, I know, I know, not my best work, but I just wanted to establish a kind of family connection for Jake, Jenny, and Peyton. And I totally forgot how short these chapters were. I promise I will update soon, again. Please Review and keep reading!! Thanks a billion!**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Thanks for the reviews to: OTH.daddy'sgurl.06, Polia, and onetreefan! Sorry again, about the short chapters! I wrote this story a long time ago and I had forgotten how short they were! Happy Holidays everyone!**

**Chapter 8**

Jake and Peyton had decided to keep their relationship a secret. Not because they were ashamed of each other or anything, but they figured this way it was easier and they didn't have to worry about Nikki finding out some how. So right now, Jenny and Brooke were the only people that knew about them being together. And it didn't really matter because those were the only people they were around most of their time outside of class.

Peyton was baby-sitting for Jenny every day, and she was growing closer and closer to Jenny each time. They talked about Jake, but mostly just about Tree Hill. Peyton told her all there was to know about their High School days. Of course, she left out all the parts with the drinking and sex. What kind of baby-sitter would that make her if she told a three year old about that stuff?

"So, you and daddy... are you two dating?" Jenny asked.

"Yes, sweetie," Peyton answered. This was maybe the twentieth time Jenny had asked that, but every time she heard Peyton answer that she smiled that beautiful broad smile of hers.

"Are you going to get married?" Jenny asked, as if it were any old, normal question.

Peyton was struck by surprise. Her and Jake had been going out for only a week! She didn't want to worry Jenny or anything, but she really had no idea where her relationship with Jake was going right now.

"Um... I don't know, Jenny," She said, not thinking of anything else to say.

"Well, do you two love each other?" _Wow, this girl asked a lot of questions_, thought Peyton.

"Um... well..." It was a little early to think about love, wasn't it? Love is a very complex thing. You can't just rush things... She was saved from explaining all this to Jenny, by Jake walking through the door.

"Ah, my two girls!" He said as he entered the dorm, smiling. Jenny ran up to hug him and he picked her up. "Did you have a good time?" Jake asked.

"Yup. We talked." Jenny answered.

"Well, what'd you talk about?" Jake asked.

"Nothing..." Jenny said, looking at Peyton and smiling. Peyton winked to her and smiled. _Smart girl_, she thought. Jake noticed the exchange, but didn't say anything. He put Jenny down and walked over to Peyton and kissed her on the cheek. He didn't want to do anything more with Jenny standing just there.

"I missed you." He whispered into her ear so that Jenny couldn't hear.

"Hey! No secrets!" Jenny said, faking being mad.

"Hey! You should talk!" Jake said as he started tickling Jenny. Peyton just stood and watched the man of her dreams and his daughter laughing. They were so adorable. And surprisingly, it was really easy to imagine herself being adorable with them.

---

After dinner, Jake and Peyton tucked in Jenny and she fell asleep right away. Jake and Peyton then went into the kitchen to clean up.

"Finally, a moment alone," Jake said, watching Peyton clean the dishes in the sink. _Even doing that she looks beautiful_, he thought.

"Jake, I don't plan on doing all these dishes myself," Peyton said.

"Fine then, I'll help you." Jake said walking over and stood next to her at the sink. They were so close it was making him crazy. But Peyton was right, the dishes weren't going to do themselves. Work comes first. So he grabbed a plate and started scrubbing.

A few minutes went by and they were still doing the dishes in silence. It was kind of awkward for both of them, so to break the tension, Peyton grabbed a handful of suds and threw them in Jake's face. The look that Jake made on his face was priceless and left Peyton laughing hysterically.

"Oh, you are _so_ dead!" Jake said throwing suds in her direction as well. Peyton screamed and laughed and soon they were in a huge sud-fight. There were bubbles and water everywhere in the kitchen. And Jake was lucky enough to slip in a puddle. But while he was falling he grabbed Peyton to bring her down with him.

Jake landed on the hard floor and made sure Peyton landed on top of him; he wouldn't want her to get hurt. They were both laughing hysterically and trying to catch their breathes.

"Jake, I can't believe you, I'm soaked!" Peyton said.

"Hey, you started it!" Jake said, defending himself. But it was true, Peyton was way more soaked than he was. "Well if you get off me I can go get you a towel."

"Oh, you say that as if it's my fault! You're the one who threw me on top of you!" Peyton said. "And, no thanks... I'd actually rather stay right here." She said, more honestly and she gazed into his eyes. Jake smiled and Peyton leaned down to kiss him. Jake wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him, if that were possible.

They spent a few minutes like that, just making out of the kitchen floor, soaked from head to toe, but happier than ever. All those years of being apart and now that they were together they couldn't get enough of each other. They often found themselves making out passionately after Jenny had gone to sleep. Call it making up for lost time, if you will. But those moments only lasted so long...

They heard the sound of steps in the hallway outside coming near the dorm so they were forced to pull apart. And with much difficulty they managed to stand up before Stuart walked in.

"Oh, hey guys." He said.

"Hey." Both Jake and Peyton said at the same time.

"Um. I should probably go." She said. "Bye," she said to Jake and gave him a quick hug, and she smiled to Stuart and then left.

"Dude, what happened to our kitchen?" Stuart said.

"Uh, nothing, man. I'll clean it up, it's a long story." Well, ok, it wasn't exactly a long story, but he didn't feel like telling him. Stuart didn't know that him and Peyton were together. Jake took two cups out of the cupboard and poured some soda in both of them and handed one to Stuart.

"Thanks," Stuart said, "So what's the deal with you and Peyton?"

"What?" Jake said, doing his best to hide it. He wasn't the _best_ liar. "There is no deal."

"You two aren't together?" Stuart asked.

"Nah, man. Just good friends." Jake lied.

"Oh," Stuart started, "So... you wouldn't mind if I... you know..."

"If you what?" Jake asked, confused, taking a sip of his soda.

"You know... go after her?" Stuart said.

"WHAT?" Jake yelled, spitting out his soda.

---

**AN: OK, that's where I leave you, haha! Thanks so much for reading guys! Please leave a review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Hey guys! I hope everyone had happy holidays! Thanks for the wonderful reviews to: OTH.daddy'sgurl.06, was-an-angel, Polia, and onetreefan! **

**Chapter 9**

"I was wondering if you would be ok with me asking Peyton out," Stuart clarified, shaking his hands to get the soda off him.

"Like, on a date?" Jake asked, shocked.

"Well, that's what "asking out" normally implies," Stuart said, "But, if it's not ok..."

"No, no, no! It's, uh," Jake said, not sure what to say, "it's fine."

"Ok, thanks man." Stuart said, getting up.

"If you want to risk it. I mean, Peyton's not really the dating kind, if you know what I mean." Jake said, improvising. He knew he couldn't talk about his relationship with Peyton, but he also knew Peyton couldn't go out with Stuart.

"I think I'll risk it." Stuart said, starting to walk back out of the dorm to go find Peyton.

"You know, she's not really your type." Jake said, as a last attempt to stop this.

Stuart smiled, "What, is she gay or something?" he said. Jake shook his head, not sure what else he could do. Stuart probably suspected Jake liked Peyton already. And since Peyton had never mentioned a boyfriend... All Jake could do was regretfully watch Stuart walk out the door.

"Shit!" he murmured under his breath.

---

Peyton cleared her throat upon walking into her dorm and finding Brooke and Lucas making out on the couch. Brooke looked up, and grinned as Lucas blushed, he was never good with the PDAs, especially when they weren't so public, but someone walked in.

"Mrs. Jegelski!" Brooke yelled getting up and practically skipping towards Peyton.

"Whoa there, Brooke!" Peyton answered, giggling.

"Oh my God, guess who called today while you were playing house with Jake?" Brooke asked as Lucas came up behind her.

"Who?" Peyton asked, curious. She had been in her own little world ever since she got together with Jake. Her days consisted of Brooke, which usually meant Lucas too, Jake, and Jenny, she didn't really have time to meet new people.

"Tutor-wife! She said she's coming to visit, with, of course, Nathan!" Brooke said, quickly, smiling at the thought of seeing her two friends again.

"Really? Oh my God! Where are they going to stay?" Peyton asked.

"With me!" Lucas spoke up, "The basketball team's dorm has like five guest rooms for exchange students or seniors who want to come to the school, and Brooke pulled a few strings."

"I just used my good looks for a good cause. Is that so bad?" Brooke said, looking up like the innocent saint she definitely was not.

"Ok, well, I think I'm going to turn in. I'll see you guys tomorrow!" Peyton said, ready to go to her room, but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Stuart, hi." Peyton said, a little uncomfortable at finding him outside her door.

"Hey," he said, confidently, "Listen, I was wondering if you wanted to go out sometime."

"Like, on a date?!" Peyton asked, surprised.

"I think you've been hanging out with Jake too much, that's exactly what he said." Stuart said, laughing.

"Oh," Peyton said, pretending to laugh too. "You know, I... uh, I would love to, but...I really can't right now."

"Oh, " Stuart murmured, disappointed, "Well, maybe some other time, then."

And, without another word, he turned around, determined to make her change her mind.

---

Jenny and Peyton were watching TV on Saturday night, waiting for Jake to come home from his job. They had spent the whole day together, shopping.

"Peyton, do you think my mom thinks about me?" Jenny asked, after seeing a little girl get off a school bus and walk home with her mom on the television.

"Uh... I don't know, sweetie." Peyton said, uneasy at the thought of Nikki.

Jenny looked down sadly thinking about her mother and what she looks like...

"But I think about you all the time." Peyton said, hoping to bring comfort to the little girl sitting next to her. Jenny looked up and smiled. They both turned back to the TV and fell asleep...

A few hours later, Jake got home. He was late, again. It had been a long day, he had to cover someone's shift, so he was working until eleven. But, he needed the cash, so he had another shift the next day too. Although he was exhausted, he was glad to be home late when he saw Peyton and Jenny asleep on the couch waiting for him. It was a total Kodak moment, and he watched them until Peyton woke up.

"Hey," he said, softly.

"Hi." Peyton answered, getting up, careful not to disturb Jenny. "How was work?"

"Ok, some guy didn't show, so I just got home." Jake said.

"Well, I'm glad." Peyton said, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him lightly.

"Hmm..." Jake said, once they had broken apart, "really?"

Peyton nodded, and they leaned in to kiss again, but they were interrupted by Brooke barging in.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I need Peyton." she said, grabbing her and leading her to their room. Peyton waved goodbye to Jake, who sighed and carried Jenny to bed. He kept on thinking about Peyton, though. He could still smell her perfume on the couch, and it was driving him crazy...

---

**AN: Ok, guys, that's it! I hope you like it! Spoilers: What's up with Brooke? Will Stuart try something again? And what happens when Naley visit? **

**REVIEW and find out! Thanks guys so much for reading!**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: I'm so sorry for the super long wait! Thanks so much for sticking around! Thanks for the wonderful reviews to: Sophi20, jeytonlover, OTH.daddy'sgurl.06, and St. John Allerdyce!!**

**Chapter 10**

Peyton was sitting in Jake and Stuart's dorm room with Jenny on her lap, listening to Stuart babble on and on about nothing in particular. Once he came home, she thought about just leaving, but then she remembered Jenny telling her that Stuart was really boring and not fun to play with so Peyton thought she'd stay, just to make Jenny happy. But it was a little awkward for her. She didn't want to be rude to Stuart, she was sure he was a very nice guy, but she didn't want to act interested in what he was saying (which she wasn't), incase he got the wrong idea.

She hadn't even told Jake yet- about Stuart asking her out. She didn't want it to create tension between him and Stuart, not that they were the best of friends or anything, but they were living together. But that also meant that Stuart would probably tell Jake about him asking Peyton out, and she didn't want Jake to think that Peyton would hide that from him. She didn't know what to do, so she just didn't do anything.

"Peyton? Peyton, are you listening?" Stuart said waving a hand in front of Peyton's face. Peyton was snapped out of her thoughts.

"Oh, yeah yeah, of course. You were, um, you were talking about... you know? That... that thing..." Peyton said, she knew she sounded stupid, but she wasn't just going to say: 'No, Stuart, I wasn't listening to you, because you are _boring_!!!'

"Right. So, then when I turned fifteen, I became fasinated with technologie..." And Stuart dronned on and on about his whole life story as Peyton just continued thinking. About Jake, about Jenny, about Brooke and Lucas, about Nathan and Haley... anything was more interesting than _this_. She looked down at Jenny who gave a big yawn and started to doze off.

Finaly she heard the door unlock. '_Oh thank God!_' Peyton thought as she saw Jake come through the door.

"Hey guys!" Jake said pretty loudly.

Peyton put a finger to her lips as to tell him to be quiet, but she was smiling. "Hey," She whispered.

"I'll put Jenny to bed." Jake whispered after seeing his daughter asleep on his girlfriend's lap.

"No, I can do it," Peyton said, not wanting to be left alone with Stuart. Jake nodded and Peyton picked up Jenny and walked to the bedroom.

Meanwhile, Jake and Stuart were standing in the kitchen, Stuart was saying something but Jake was kind of tunning him out. He found Stuart to be just a tad boring, so he started getting into the habit of sometimes just tunning him out. He knew it sounded kind of rude, but it's not like Stuart had anything interesting to say-

"So, yeah, you were right." Stuart said.

"About what?" Jake said, only catching the last few words that Stuart had been saying.

"I just said. About Peyton, not wanting to date and all." Stuart said, sounding annoyed that Jake hadn't caught it the first time he said it.

"What?" was all Jake could say. "What are you talking about?" And then Jake remembered. Stuart had told him that he had wanted to ask Peyton out. How could he forget?

Stuart sighed, and said for the second time, "I asked her out and she said no. She was really vague, too. I wonder why she said no..." Stuart said.

"Yeah... yeah, me too." Jake said, trying to sound convincing. He was happy that she had said no. What was he saying? Of course she would say no, she was with him! Even though they never really said that they weren't seeing other people aswell. It wasn't really his thing to date more than one person, but who knows? Maybe Jake wasn't the reason why Peyton said no to Stuart. This was confusing him way to much, he needed to think this over a little.

"OK," Peyton said getting out of the room where she just tucked in Jenny, "Well, I got to go. Brooke and I have to pick up Nathan and Haley at the air-port. But I'll see you guys tomorrow." She said. "Nice talking to you, Stuart," she lied. "Bye Jake," she said approaching the door.

"Bye," He said, not really looking her in the eye. But Peyton ignored that little detail and decided that it was nothing to worry about and she left.

---

"Oh my God! Oh my God! There they are!" Brooke sqealed at the gate of the air-port as her and Peyton saw the tall basketball player with his arm around the petite brunette walking towards them.

Brooke and Peyton ran over to hug them and say 'hi' and 'welcome' and all that stuff.

"So, Peyton, I know about Brooke and Lucas, but what about you? You dating anyone?" Haley said, linking arms with her two girlfriends.

"Brooke didn't tell you?" Peyton said surprised. Then she blushed, "I'm actually seeing Jake."

"Jake? Jake Jigelski? You're kiding?!" Haley said jumping up and down. Peyton laughed.

"Nope. It's kind of a long story, but I baby-sit for Jenny again and now me and Jake are dating." Peyton said.

"Wow, that is so great!" Haley said.

"Actually," Brooke said, "Peyton has been pretty popular with the boys at UC Berkeley."

"Oh, really?" Haley said, looking at Peyton teasingly.

"No!" Peyton said. "It's just this one guy, Stuart, Jake's room-mate, that asked me out. That's all."

"What'd you say?" Haley asked.

"I said 'no'! Of course!" Peyton said.

"Well, I don't know!" Haley said defensively. "Maybe you and Jake have that 'We can see other people too' kind of relationship! How would I know?"

The girls kept talking and laughing, but that thing that Haley said about Peyton and Jake maybe seeing other people stayed in the back of Peyton's mind the whole time. They had never really clarified that little detail. She just assumed that they would be seeing each other and that was it. But who knows, she heard a lot about people in college that do the whole casual dating thing. She hadn't seen Jake for a long time before this year, maybe he was one of those people?

---

**AN: Sorry, I know that chapter wasn't very exciting! I _promise_ I will come out with another chapter sooner than last time! Thanks so much for reading, guys! Please leave a review, you have no idea how happy I am to read what you guys think!**


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: Thanks so much for the reviews to: tardychick, jeytonlover, OTH.daddy'sgurl.06, and onetreefan! I'm not so happy about all this Leyton on OTH right now, so I'm glad I get to post this Jeyton fic and keep the Jeyton hope alive! **

**Chapter 11**

A couple days later, Peyton and Jake had resumed their normall routine: she would come over in the morning, hang out with Jenny, and then leave once Jake or Stuart came back and go to her classes and then sometimes come back on the weekends and at night. However, it seemed that they hadn't had a real conversation since before Stuart had asked her out.

They talked about classes, Jenny, even the weather at the most extreme lack of dialogue, but never about them, and what was going on. But, tonight, that was all going to change. Jake had come out of his English class completely sure that he should talk to her about Stuart. It had taken most of the period for him to come to this conclusion, and now, as he neared his dorm, the nerves started to set in.

"I'm home!" Jake yelled, putting his bag on the kitchen counter and walking towards the couch, where he normally found Jenny and Peyton watching TV.

"Hi! Jenny was tired so she went to take a nap," Peyton said, standing up and walking towards him.

"Oh, good, good." Jake said, absent minded.

"Yeah, she and I got caught by Stuart, and he would not stop talking! She practically fell asleep right there, in my arms. Hey, is she allowed to see Shrek, because I was thinking maybe I could bring it over Saturday? You know, we could make popcorn and watch it, have our own little Kodac moment," She said, smilling.

"Are we one of those couples?" Jake asked, suddenly.

"What now?" Peyton asked, confused. Was this a yes or a no?

"One of those couples." Jake said, as if this clarified everything.

"And what is one of those couples exactly?" she asked, completly lost.

"You know, one of those couples that are... exclusive?" Jake said, hopefully.

Peyton was silent for a moment. Was he freaking out? Was he scared of commitment or something? It was like he read her mind or something, because this was the exact question she had been asking herself this whole time. What was she suppose to say? If she said yes, than maybe she was one of those girlfriends that was all demanding and clingy, and that was the last thing she wanted. But on the other hand, maybe the last thing she wanted was to see Jake with some other girl. _Calm down_, she told herself, _you're getting ahead of yourself._

"Uh... do... do you want us to be?" she asked, looking up at him.

Jake took a deep breath and nodded, "Well, yeah."

Peyton felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off her heart, she was so relieved.

"Good," she said, taking a step closer to him and wraping her arms around his neck, and he did the same with his around her waist. But she stoped him from kissing her. "Wait. I have to tell you something." She said.

"I'm listening," Jake said, getting worried. What was so important?

"Well... the thing is... Stuart asked me out. A while ago, actually. But I said no! Because I only wanted to be with you," Peyton said, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you right after it happened. I thought it would just make things weird... Although, things have been a little awkward anyways..."

"Yeah, well that's probably my fault. Stuart told me that he asked you out and that you said no and all. Plus, he had told me before that he was planing to do it, so I guess I should have told you that too. So, we're pretty much even." Jake said, lowering his head again to place his lips on hers. As the kiss intensified, Peyton and Jake both tightened their grips on each other, wanting to be closer.

Then all of a sudden, Peyton pulled away. "One more thing," she said, catching her breath. Jake nodded.

"Anything," He said.

"For us to be 'one of those couples'," She started, quoting what Jake had said earlier, "I think we should make it public. You know, not hide our relationship anymore," She said with a hopeful look in her eyes. The truth was, she was falling for Jake, just like she had years ago in high school, she was falling bad and she wanted everyone to know. It was just one of those things that you wanted to shout from rooftops and yell at the top of your lungs about.

Peyton was relieved to see Jake smiling down at her and she rested her head on his chest and he tightened his arms around her waist. "I am so happy to hear you say that. 'Cause I'm sick of hiding too. I want everyone to know exactly how lucky I am to be with the girl of my dreams." Peyton was shocked by how sweet and romantic he was being. She knew he was a sensitive, sweet guy, but sometimes the things he said really astounded her and left her speechless. No one had ever said nicer things to her before. She looked up at him and smiled ear to ear.

"You sure you want them to know_ exactly _how lucky you are?" Peyton whispered in his ear.

"Well, not _exactly_..." He said, trying to think straight. "We'll just keep things like this to our selves..." He said pulling her in for another earth-shattering kiss, and they fell on the couch, horizontally. The kiss deepened and Jake opened her mouth with his so that their tongues collided together perfectly. Jake's hands were playing with the bottom of her 'The Ramones' T-shirt, and Peyton's were already exploring underneath Jake's shirt, loving the feel of his well-toned abs.

"Daddy!" Jenny yelled, running over to the couch where Peyton and Jake immediately sprung apart. Jenny seemed completely oblivious to what they were just doing, she was just happy to see her father. She ran up and hugged him. He looked pretty relieved that Jenny didn't say anything about what she had probably just seen. But he was still pretty shook up about it. Felling Peyton's touch like that, it just left him breathless and wanting more.

"Hey sweetie," Jake said hugging his daughter back. "I thought you were asleep."

"I heard sounds so I came to see if you were home. And you are!" She said happily. Peyton could tell that Jake and Jenny would just be so close. She could see them when Jenny was a teenager and she would come home and talk to Jake about school, boys, shopping, all that stuff, as if he were her best friend. Peyton hoped she would still know them by then. "Hi, Peyton! Why are you still here?" Jenny said.

"Oh, actually, I should probably get going." Peyton said, more to Jake than to Jenny. She got up, hugged Jenny and said good-bye to her.

"Jenny, why don't you go to bed and I'll be there right away to tuck you in, OK?" Jake said and Jenny did as she was told. Jake turned to Peyton.

"Oh, God.." He sighed heavily, "Can you imagine if she had actually said anything about us? How could we explain that? She still thinks babies come from storks." He said laughing a little.

"Yeah, well, luckily she didn't seem to be too bothered by it." Peyton said, putting on her jacket.

"I wasn't too bothered by it myself," Jake said, walking towards Peyton and giving her another kiss. But this one was short, because Peyton really needed to get back now.

"Neither was I," Peyton said. "But I have to go, I told Brooke I would be home like," She glanced at her watch, "fifteen minutes ago."

"OK, see you tomorrow then," Jake said.

"Yeah, see you," Peyton said and was about to walk out the door, but then turned around. "Oh and Jake?"

"Yeah?"

"You might want to tell Jenny the truth... about where babies come from. You know it might not be so long before she starts bringing boys home," Peyton said jokingly.

Jake got a scared expression. "Oh, please don't say that..." He said. Peyton laughed at him.

"Bye," she said.

"Bye."

---

**AN: OK thanks for reading guys. As usual, please leave a review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Hey guys, so sorry for not updating sooner! I've been super busy! But thanks for the fantastic reviews to: jeytonlover, onetreefan, and OTH.daddy'sgurl.06! I absolutely love hearing what you guys have to say, so thank you so much for that!**

**Chapter 12**

"P. Sawyer, tell me you love me!" Brooke exclaimed as she walked through the door of their dorm room. Peyton turned from her position on the bed, where she was sitting next to Haley.

"Now, why would I do that?" she answered.

"Because, I just happened to get us invited to the hottest party of the year! This fraternity is having a massive party to start off Christmas break a little early, and we are gonna be there!" Brooke said, practically jumping up and down with excitement.

"Brooke, it's the beginning of December, and don't you guys still have finals?" Haley asked, standing up.

"Don't worry, Tutor Girl, you can come too. Oh, and bring that Scott boy-toy of yours; I'm sure it'll be dark there." Brooke answered, smiling and raising her eyebrows.

Haley giggled. "Alright," she said, "I'm in, as long as I can borrow something to wear."

"Done." Brooke said with a nod, "Peyton?"

Peyton rolled her eyes, thinking. Maybe this would be the right time to make her and Jake's relationship public. But then again, nothing screams: DRAMA more than a party.

"What the hell! I'm in too, but, Haley?" Peyton said.

"Yeah?"

"You're not wearing any of my clothes this time!" Peyton said, laughing. Remembering the last time she had lent Haley something.

"Hey! That's so not fair, how was I supposed to know Nathan was going to be in a good mood?!" Haley said, blushing.

"Ew! That's so gross!" Peyton yelled, still laughing.

---

"Hey man, have you heard about the party?" Stuart asked Jake, who was currently putting all his books in his book bag, getting ready for class.

"What party?" Jake asked, not looking up from his English notes, wondering where he had put his notebook.

"I'll take that as a no." Stuart answered, taking a seat at the kitchen table, "The fraternity down the street is having an early Christmas break party, and I got us invited."

Jake looked up, "Is it just me, or do we have finals?" Jake said, closing his bag and sitting down across from Stuart.

"Listen, what's one night gonna do? Plus, there are a ton of nerds that will be more than willing to baby sit." Stuart said, pushing for Jake to say yes.

"Well, why wouldn't Peyton be able to do it?" Jake asked, confused.

"Come on, do you really think a girl like that isn't already going to the party? Besides, I figure... maybe if I see her there, I'll have a chance to talk to her, you know?" Stuart said, uncertainly.

"Right." Jake said, nodding. Their conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door. Jake got up, relieved, and opened the door.

"Hey!" Peyton said, smiling.

"Hi." Jake said, letting out a breath, remembering their earlier conversation, she was all his, there was no way Stuart even had a chance.

"So, listen," Peyton started, "I can sit normally, but I can't Friday night, I promised Brooke I'd go to this party."

"Oh, yeah, uh...I've got to go, I'll talk to you later!" Jake said, as he left. They still hadn't told Stuart about their relationship. They had just decided to go public, and they figured they should just let everyone know at once. Maybe this party was a good idea, after all, Jake thought as he walked to class.

---

**AN: OK, I know, so absolutely nothing happened in this chapter! I'm so sorry! the next chapter is coming soon, I promise! In the meantime, please leave a review! Thanks you guys, so much for reading!**


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: Thanks so much for the reviews to jeytonlover, and onetreefan!! **

**---**

**Chapter 13**

Peyton threw all the contents of her closet on her bed, looking for the perfect outfit. Tonight was Friday, and operation-party was a go. She was really nervous, to say the least. She finally settled on a deep blue halter and a borrowed pair of jeans from Brooke. She spent twenty minutes playing around with her hair. And finally, her curls were so frizzed out by all the hair do's she'd tried, that she had to put up in a half-ponytail. She had long, chandelier earrings, and blue flip flops on. She wanted to be as comfortable as possible.

She was officially very late, though. It had taken her almost an hour to get ready, and she walked to the party, taking her time. So, when she arrived at midnight, the party was already in full swing. She saw drunk guys chasing after even more drunk girls, and sober couples at just about 'Get-a-room' stage. It was a party alright.

She quickly spotted Brooke, Lucas, Haley and Nathan in a corner on the other side of the small, packed room.

"P. Sawyer! What took you so long?!" Brooke yelled over the music when Peyton got to them.

"Sorry," Peyton said, not offering an excuse. She hugged everyone hello, and Haley and Nathan went to the backyard to "get some air". Yeah... right.

"Do Tutor-wife and Nate ever get tired of each other?! What is this? We were supposed to be hanging out, and instead, they're always making out in a closet somewhere!" Brooke complained, while Lucas was kissing her neck and she was sitting in his lap.

Peyton laughed at her friends hypocrisy, "You do realize what you're doing, right?" she asked, motioning towards Lucas. Brooke just raised her eyebrow, and turned to kiss Lucas full on the mouth.

Peyton tried to say goodbye, but, when neither came up for air after a few minutes, she gave up, and went to the kitchen to get herself a drink.

She took small steps, inching in between the mass of people trying to get to the kitchen. She finally got there and, to her surprise, no one was there. It was just her and her thoughts.

As she crossed the tiled floor to the fridge, and grabbed herself a soda, she couldn't help but think of Jake, and all those times they had spent in his kitchen together. She smiled slightly and hopped up to sit on the counter, her back to the door.

"Hey, have you seen my incredibly gorgeous girlfriend around?" Jake asked, coming up in front of her, putting his hands on her hips and kissing her hello.

"Um... last I heard she was going upstairs with some senior." Peyton replied, her smile widening at the sight of her boyfriend.

"Oh, yeah?" Jake asked, laughing, as he leaned in for another kiss. This one was longer, and filled with passion. Peyton felt like her heart was about to explode and she wrapped her arms around Jake's neck for support. It was strange, Jake had that effect on her, something as simple as a kiss could put her on cloud 9.

They pulled apart at the noise of something hitting the ground, and Peyton turned to face the door.

"Hey, Stuart." Jake said, uneasily. Stuart just stared at them, and grabbed his beer can off the floor and took a long drink; he was clearly drunk.

"Hey man," Stuart said, walking over to them. "What the hell are you doing?" he asked, getting angry.

"Listen," Jake said, putting his hands up in an attempt to calm his roommate down, "We were going to tell you tonight."

Stuart just ignored this as he walked towards Jake and Peyton, who was still siting at the counter, letting Jake handle this.

Without a word, Stuart punched Jake right in the jaw and walked away. Jake fell to the floor, holding his jaw with one had, breaking his fall with the other.

"Oh my God, Jake?!" Peyton yelled, jumping off the counter and leaning down over him.

"I'm ok, I'm ok." Jake said, siting up and whipping blood off his lip.

"Ok, let's get you home." Peyton said, pulling him up and walking towards the back door.

They walked to her dorm in silence. Peyton figured it was safest, Stuart wouldn't be there, and Brooke would probably spend the night with Lucas. Jenny had a babysitter for the night, so they wouldn't have to worry about that.

Peyton grabbed Jake's hand, and didn't let go until she had to unlock the door.

"Sit, I'll go get some ice." Peyton said, motioning him to her bed as she got ice out of the mini fridge Brooke had put in their room. Jake did as he was told, and laid down on her bed.

"Here you go." Peyton said, sitting down next to him and putting ice on his face, "How is it?" she asked, concerned.

"Not too bad." Jake said, smiling up at her.

Peyton laughed, realizing what he meant, she said, "Stop, or I'll give you more injures."

"I love you." Jake said, quietly...

---

**AN: Ok guys, that's it!!! I know, I'm evil...lol I hope you liked it! What's her answer???? Review and find out!!!!**


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: Thanks to jeytonlover and OTH.daddy'sgurl.06! Your constant support means so much to me!**

**---**

**Chapter 14**

Peyton froze, as did Jake. _Did I just say that?_ he asked himself in his head. Well, it _was_ true. He had figured it out quite a while ago; that he was in love with Peyton. However, he could not remember making up his mind to _tell_ her about it. It's not like it's _that_ big a deal, right? he told himself. They are adults now, in an adult relationship, and sooner or later it was going to come out, right? It wasn't _that _big of a shock. But looking at Peyton's expression, Jake was guessing that it actually was, quite a big shock. Since Peyton didn't seem to be speaking anytime soon, Jake figured he better fill the silence between them.

Jake opened and closed his mouth a couple times, but didn't find the words. What was he suppose to say? He had said all that mattered all ready, now he just had to wait for Peyton's answer. He just didn't know if he could take it if it wasn't exactly what he hoped to hear. Peyton finally opened her mouth to talk, but she wasn't looking Jake in the eye.

"I-" Peyton stuttered. "I mean, I..."

"What? You what?" Jake asked gently, getting impatient but not showing it. His voice was sweet and soft.

"I don't know," Peyton finally said. It seemed stupid, all that thought in the last couple of minutes on what to say and she ended up just saying that she didn't know. She knew that this was definitely not the right thing to say, but her mind was so cluttered right now, that she couldn't really think straight.

Jake couldn't have been more disappointed, but he didn't say anything. I mean, what could he say? He wasn't going to force her into saying she was in love with him too. He just let out a huge sigh; on top of being disappointed, he was now greatly embarrassed also.

"I'm sorry, Jake, It's just I-" Peyton said, close to tears.

"Don't know. Yeah, you said so already," Jake said, but he wasn't yelling. He didn't even seem angry- just sad. His sad face, was enough to make Peyton burst with tears, but she didn't, her eyes just watered. "Thanks for the ice," Jake mumbled as he got up and set the packet of ice down on her bed and walked towards the door.

Peyton wanted to say something. Anything. She didn't want him to go. She didn't know why she was so confused about all this. You would think that she was in love with Jake. She had never been in love before, but in movies and everything they always said that when you were in love, you just knew it- it was just there and you just felt it. But Peyton didn't know if she knew it or if she felt it. She felt _something_, but how could she know if it was love or not? She was confused, and desperate for some advice.

She decided that obviously, the person she needed to talk to was Haley. Haley was pretty much the expert on true love, so she could probably lend her some advice, and if not, she could be there for Peyton and just be a shoulder to cry on.

Peyton dialed Haley's cell phone number, but got the message machine, and she decided to leave a message. It was Nathan's voice on the machine: "_Hey, you've reached Haley James-Scott's cell phone. Yes, that's the brilliant Nathan Scott's beautiful wife, who is probably busy with me right now-"_ you could here Haley laughing in the distance, and then her voice on the machine:_ "-Nathan, stop! OK, so just leave a message!" _You could hear some more laughing, and then a beep. Peyton couldn't help but laugh at this message machine, before leaving her message.

_"Hey Haley, it's Peyton," She said, as the tears started to fall, she tried not to make it sound like she was crying, "I just, um- needing some advice about... something. So if you could call me back, or you know, just stop by at my dorm room, that'd be really great. Thanks, bye."_

---

Jake headed back to his dorm, barely paying attention to where he was going, that's why he was surprised when he looked up and saw that his feet had brought him back to the party. He figured he'd go in to see his friends, anything to get his mind off of what had just happened. He saw Haley, Nathan, Brooke, and Lucas in a corner talking, and he decided to go join them. On his way, a couple drunk girls clutched themselves to him and he managed to get them off him. He finally reached his friends.

"Wow, Jake, what happened to your eye?" Lucas asked.

"Um- it's Stuart, he found out about me and Peyton," Jake said, his voice cracking when he said Peyton's name, "And he was kinda drunk, so... he punched me."

"Ouch." Nathan said. "Who's Stuart again?" he asked.

"My roommate," Jake said.

"Your roommate didn't even know about you and Peyton dating?" Haley asked.

"Well, we only really decided to go public about us being together just recently, so we didn't really get around to telling him. And I guess, he kind of had a thing for her, so he got mad." Jake said. "Doesn't matter though, he'll get over it." He added, not really wanting to talk about it. The others seemed to get this. There was a little silence and then Haley's phone beeped.

"Hmm, I have a message. I wonder why I didn't hear it ring... Sorry, guys, I'll be right back." She said and she went off to find a quiet room to check her message.

---

Haley listened to the message, knowing very well that Peyton was definitely not okay when she had said it. Haley could hear the sobs over her voice. What could be wrong? It was only then, that she remembered that she had not seen Peyton since the beginning of the party, and that now when Jake came, Peyton wasn't with him. She walked back into the main room and joined the rest of the gang, minus Peyton.

"Um, Brooke?" She said, low so the boy's wouldn't hear, which they probably wouldn't have even if she had talked in a normal voice, now that they had started up a conversation about basketball. "I think something's wrong with Peyton, we should probably go see her." Haley said.

"Yeah, okay. I thought it was weird that she wasn't here." Brooke said, and then she waved her arms around to get the boys' attention. "Yeah, Haley and I are gonna go- um- see Peyton, you know, see what she's up to." Brooke said, figuring that telling the truth couldn't hurt. Jake suddenly got very interested in his shoes, and Nathan and Lucas kissed their girlfriends, or in Nathan's case- wife- good bye.

"Did she say what was wrong?" Brooke asked as her and Haley mad their way to Brooke and Peyton's dorm room.

"No, she didn't even say that something was wrong. But I could just tell. I think she was crying. But all she said was that she needed advice about something." Haley told Brooke as they got to the dorm. Brooke opened the door and saw that Peyton was lying on the bed, holding a pack of ice oddly enough, and plugged into her iPod, not hearing or noticing Brooke and Haley enter the room. Haley got in front of Peyton and waved to get her attention. When Peyton noticed her and Brooke, she took off he head phones. Brooke and Haley could tell that she had obviously been crying.

"Hey," Peyton said, "I didn't hear you come in."

"Are you okay, Peyton?" Haley asked, "I got your message." she added.

"I don't know," Peyton answered, moving over to make room for Brooke and Haley on the bed. The all sat in a triangle. "You guys haven't seen Jake have you?" She asked.

"Um, actually yeah, he came back to the party." Brooke said. "Why did something happen?"

"He didn't tell you guys?" Peyton asked.

"All he told us was about Stuart punching him," Haley said.

"Right," Peyton said, "Well, after that, I brought him back here to get him some ice, and then..." Peyton took a deep breath, "... He said 'I love you.'" Brooke and Haley smiled widely.

"Wow," Brooke said, "That's great!"

"Yeah," Peyton said, "It would've been if I'd have said it back..."

Brooke and Haley's smiles vanished. "Oh," Haley said, "So, you don't love him?"

"It's not that," Peyton said. "I just, I don't really know. That's kinda why I called you, I was kinda hoping you could tell me how you know when you're in love."

"Oh," Haley said, "Well, I'm not really sure how to explain it. But I definitely know what it's like to be in love, and if you ask me... it seems to me like you're in love with Jake." Haley said. "But it can't be me who decides it, you need to find out for yourself whether or not you're in love with him."

Peyton thought for a moment, but she really didn't need to, it was pretty much a no-brainer. Jake was the person who she found comfort in in her junior year, when she had so much drama going on. He was the person who she missed and thought about constantly for two years while he was away. He was the person who had been making her so unbelievably happy ever since they had gotten together. "I am. I love him." Peyton declared to her two best friends.

"I know," Brooke said, smiling. "Know, you might want to tell _him_ that."

Peyton's smile faded. _Oh, God_, she thought, _what if he's mad at me?_ _What if he thinks now that I _don't_ love him, and now he doesn't want to be with me anymore_. She had to go see him, and she had to right now.

"Go!" Haley said excitedly, pushing Peyton softly off the bed.

"Okay," Peyton said running out of the dorm, "Thanks, guys!" She yelled behind her as she slammed the door.

---

**AN: Alright, that's where I leave you! Please review!**


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: Thanks for the reviews to: jeytonlover, Nineteen.Stars.xX, OTH.daddy'sgurl.06, Sophi20, and onetreefan!! **

**Chapter 15**

"... So what do you think, Jake?" Lucas asked. The three guys were still at the party, although all they were doing was talking about basketball. Lucas and Nathan had both noticed that Jake wasn't saying much; it kind of looked like he was brooding. It was pretty obvious that something was wrong.

"Yeah... yeah, I think so, too," Jake mumbled, not having any clue what they were talking about. And he didn't really care. His mind was back in Peyton's dorm, about an hour back, when she had said that she didn't love him. OK, well she didn't flat out say that she didn't love him, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to see that that's what she was thinking. She was probably just too nice to just say it to his face. It's not like Jake was the big man on campus, far from it actually, maybe he shouldn't have assumed that just because he had such strong feelings of love for Peyton that she necessarily felt them too.

Lucas shook his head, and so did Nathan, at their friend's behavior. They were all friends here, and they could talk about this. But Jake was putting a damper on their guy-time, they might as well talk about what's bugging him. Hell, they might even be able to help him. Because anybody knows that not many guys have had more girl-drama than Nathan and Lucas.

"Dude, who died?" Lucas asked. Jake had the same expressionless face and kept looking at his shoes. He didn't even notice Lucas talking to him, he was too lost in his own thoughts. Lucas and Nathan exchanged looks and at once they took a hold of Jake and shook him awake.

"Aahh! What the-?!" Jake said, waking up from his thoughts and noticing that Lucas and Nathan were both giving him weird looks.

"Jake, just tell us what's wrong. We can talk about it, man," Nathan said.

"You, know? I just- I don't really want to talk about it, guys. I mean, thanks and all, but I don't think talking about it will help," Jake said.

"Look Jake, either let's talk about it, or lighten up. I mean, I've never seen you like this." Lucas said.

"That's 'cause I've never felt like this before," Jake admitted before he could stop himself. He was a pretty sensitive guy; talking about his feelings never really bothered him before, but now it was different. He wasn't even in tune with all his feelings, so he couldn't exactly talk about them.

And before Lucas or Nathan could ask him about that, Jake added, "I think I'm going to go back to my dorm. I kind of need to talk to Stuart anyway. I'll talk to you guys later." He said and then he left before either of then could get a word out.

Right as Jake walked out, Haley and Brooke arrived back to the party.

"Did something happen with Jake and Peyton?" Lucas asked right when they joined them. Haley and Brooke exchanged glances.

"I think we can tell them..." Brooke said, and Haley nodded. "OK, but you guys can't say a thing about it to anyone," Brooke said.

"Yeah, OK, we won't say a word. What's going on?" Nathan asked.

"Jake said 'I love you' to Peyton, but she kind of froze and didn't say it back and so now they're all... weird." Haley said, trying to resume everything in one sentence.

Lucas spit out his drink, and Nathan just chuckled, shaking his head while putting his arm around Haley's waist and kissing her cheek. "I love you," He said jokingly.

Haley playfully hit him, "Hey, that's not funny. Peyton feels really bad about it, and she just went to look for him."

"I wonder how that's going..." Lucas said.

---

Jake arrived at his dorm at exactly the same time as Peyton.

"Hey, um, Jake, can we talk?" Peyton asked. She just wanted to scream 'I LOVE YOU!' at the top of her lungs but that was all that came out. Peyton noticed that Jake still wore the hurt expression that he had on back in her dorm, and it broke her heart. She had never seen Jake like this, and it was way worse when she knew that it was her that had caused it.

"Uh..." Jake said. He had had enough of feeling bad for that night, he didn't feel like enduring another talk where Peyton would just explain to him why she didn't love him. And frankly, he was pretty tired and he didn't feel like dealing with this, and then there was Stuart who was probably still drunk and really pissed. The only thing that could really cheer him up right now was going into his dorm and watching Jenny sleep. "I don't know. Maybe later, I kind of have to go now." He said really fast and then went into his dorm, right in time to hear Peyton say:

"No, but wait-!" Peyton yelled in a hopeless attempt to get him to talk to her, but he was gone too fast. Peyton's eyes swelled with tears, and she stood there a little longer. Maybe she would knock, but he probably wouldn't answer. She really needed to tell him that she loved him, but she wasn't about to yell it across the door. Regretfully she turned around and walked slowly back all the way to her dorm, knowing that Brooke probably wouldn't be there for a while, if she even came back that night. But she didn't want to think about Brooke and Lucas tonight, that would just depress her more. She just wanted to go to sleep.

---

But sleep didn't really seem like an option. She just tossed and turned in her bed until she finally realized that this was getting her nowhere. She had to do something. Brooke hadn't come back and Peyton noticed a piece of paper by the door.

_Dear Bestest Friend,_

_While you're professing your love to Jake, I'll be staying at Lucas's tonight. Details tomorrow, I want to hear all about your night! Later,_

_BFF,_

_Brooke_

Typical, Peyton thought. One of the few nights when she really needed her best friend, and she wasn't there. But she didn't know what her and Brooke would even talk about. It was already decided: Peyton just had to tell Jake that she loved him. That was the only thing that she wanted to do right now. And although it was three in the morning, she got up and headed in his direction. She didn't know what made her do this, maybe it was because she was so tired and wasn't thinking straight, but she knew that she wouldn't be able to sleep until she saw and talked to Jake.

Who cares if she was just wearing boxers and a baggy shirt, her hair was a mess, and she had no make-up on. If all went well, like Peyton hoped it would, then these things wouldn't matter.

---

Jake couldn't sleep. He had come home to find Stuart passed out on the couch. He walked into his room and saw Jenny soundly asleep and the baby-sitter he had hired sitting on a chair and reading. Jake had payed her generously, apologized for being so late, and then just sat on his bed and watched his daughter sleeping. Soon minutes turned to hours, and Jake still didn't feel like sleeping. He was tired, sure, but his mind was so full of thoughts about Peyton that his brain never registered that it was three in the morning and he should probably go to sleep.

A little while later, he heard a knock on the door. The fact that he had ran into Peyton earlier and that not many people walked around in the middle of the night knocking on people's doors, made him figure that it was Peyton wanting to talk again. And although he knew it was wrong to just leave her there and ignore her, he couldn't bring himself to talk to her. He wanted to. Kind of. Maybe... He didn't know _what_ he wanted.

But it seemed like she wasn't going away, she just kept on knocking. Jake didn't want Jenny to wake up, so he decided to get it. He was in the process of thinking,_ hey, maybe it's not Peyton_, when he opened the door to find her standing there. She was wearing plaid boxers and an oversized shirt, her hair was pretty wild, but never-the-less she looked beautiful.

"Peyton, what is it? Do you know what time it is?" Jake asked, trying to pretend like he had been sleeping before.

"Jake, I need to talk to you. Now I can stand here all night just knocking on your door if that's what you prefer, but _please_ I just want to talk to you," she said, begging. Jake sighed. He didn't know if he really had the right mind, or the strength to do this right now, but the truth was, the way Peyton was looking right then made it pretty much impossible to say no. He just nodded and gestured for her to come in, which she did.

"OK." Peyton said, about to start trying to explain, but then she noticed Stuart on the couch. "Um, could we go somewhere private?" She asked. It was not like Stuart would be able to hear what she was saying, but she just felt more comfortable when it was just her and Jake. Jake still didn't say anything, but he nodded and led them into Stuart's room.

"OK," Peyton said again. "Um... how's your eye?" She said, then she cursed herself for saying something so stupid. It was already three in the morning, and if they kept going at this pace, who knows when she'd finally tell him what she came to tell him.

"It's better..." Jake said awkwardly. This was why she came? To see how his _eye_ was? No way, he thought.

"And... And how's your heart?" She asked, not really knowing what she meant by this, but at least it was closer to the subject. Jake took a deep breath and thought about this. How was his heart? It was pretty bad right now... But all he did was shrug. OK, Peyton thought, time to start a different approach, probably a more direct one.

"Look, Jake," Peyton said, "When you told me you loved me, you just took me by surprise. My whole life, I didn't know what love was, I was just trying to figure things out. I wondered: How do people know when they love each other? And I like thinking that I'm strong and stable, but the thing is I'm scared. This is all... so new to me... I just, I had to talk it over with my friends and think about it all night and the whole time I was just searching for an answer that was right in front of my face. I was thinking about you and me, and I knew that I felt the safest in your arms, and that I had incredibly strong feelings for you, and that I wanted to and could see myself having a future with you, and I _knew_ all those things. It just took me a while to realize that... That's what love is." She said.

That was a lot to take for Jake. She had said so much in just about thirty seconds time and he couldn't really get his mind around it. What exactly was she saying? That she loved him? Or that she just realized what love was?

"So," Peyton continued, "It's not like some new realization for me or anything. I love you," She said those words so strongly and confidently, Jake noticed no hesitation whatsoever. And his heart fluttered at those words and he found Peyton once again irresistible. "I always have," Peyton added. "And I didn't say it before because-" But she couldn't finish that thought, and it probably didn't matter to Jake, since he had now crushed his lips to hers. The passion and love distributed in that sensual kiss left her knees week and her heart racing, the way it should be.

---

_Ok, guys! And, on that happy note, we end this chap! lol We hope you liked it! And please leave a review! Thanks!!!!_


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: Sorry for the long wait! I'm so busy I barely even notice time passing, I'm so sorry I forgot about this story! Thanks for the amazing reviews to: Sophi20, jeytonlover, OTH.daddy'sgurl.06, dancerlittle, and onetreefan! You guys are fantastic!**

**---**

**Chapter 16**

Jake and Peyton were still making out, in the same spot, for minutes and minutes. Neither wanting to or planing to pull away anytime soon. If anything, they just wanted to be closer. Thoughts were going through Peyton's head a hundred miles an hour and she couldn't concentrate or think straight. Jake was in pretty much the same state, but it was just one thought that was running over and over again in his mind: _She loves me... She loves me..._ In a matter of seconds he had gone from depressed and tired to the happiest man alive, and fully awake.

Jake didn't know how long he could control himself. Peyton's hands running through his hair, their tongues battling it out, her body pressed against his... This was all driving him crazy. Just as he started slipping his hand under Peyton's oversized PJ shirt, he heard a faint noise of someone crying. They pulled away, both hearing Jenny's cries at the same time. Peyton adjusted her shirt and cleared her thoat.

"You should probably check on her," Peyton said. Her hair was a mess, and she looked a little flustered. Jake had the same appearance. He didn't show his annoyance at Jenny's timing.

"Yeah," Jake said, "I'll be right back." And he walked out of the room, but of course Peyton followed him. Stuart, who moments earlier had been passed out on the couch, was now awake, probably from the crying. His eyes looked tired, and he looked confused.

"How did I end up here?" He asked as Jake passed by, but he didn't answer him, he just went to check up on Jenny. Peyton felt that it was Jake's responsibility to check up on Jenny, and hers to talk to Stuart.

"You were drunk, and you passed out here," Peyton explained.

"So that explains the head ache," He said and Peyton nodded, wondering if Jake even remembered punching Jake.

"Do you... remember anything about tonight... or, I guess yesterday?" She said, remembering that it was now the next morning.

Stuart thought for a moment. He gazed into space. And all at once he got this look in his eyes and he gasped. "Oh, God..."

"It's not _that_ bad..." Peyton said, trying to comfort him.

"You're with Jake," Stuart stated, now glaring at her, making Peyton's feeling toward him no longer sympathetic.

"Well, yeah. I mean, we were going to tell you. You didn't have to hit Jake-" Peyton said really fast, but still managed to get interupted.

"I know, I know, it's 'cause I was drunk. But still, I might have done it if I were sober..." Stuart said, unconvinsingly. Not that Peyton knew him that well, but she could tell that he was not the type of guy that punches people. But Peyton didn't haver to say anything, Stuart added, "OK, maybe I wouldn't have. Still, it hurt."

"I know, I'm sorry. Jake feels really bad about it, too. I hope we can still be... friends," Peyton said for lack of a better word. She and Stuart had never really been friends or anything like that. They talked occasionally but that was just when she was waiting for Jake to get home. They were more like aquaintances. But friends seemed like a better word this time.

Stuart didn't say anything, he didn't have the time. Right then, his face turned a weird shade of green and he ran to the bathroom. But Peyton figured things was OK between them. It's not like he was really crazy about her or anything. Peyton knew how guys were, Stuart would move on to his next crush by the next day.

Peyton noticed the crying stop and Jake came back out soon after. Peyton glanced at her watch: 3:55 AM. Wow, at this rate, considering how much she usually slept, she would be up again at three in the afternoon. It's OK, though, it was worth it.

"What was it?" Peyton asked.

"She had a nightmare. The baby-sitter we hired tonight told her some scary story before she went to bed." Jake explained as he sat down next to her on the couch.

"What kind of baby-sitter does that?" Peyton asked.

"Well, she's no _you_..." Jake said sweetly, kissing her on the cheek. They saw Stuart come out of the bathroom and walk towards his room. Jake was about to say something to him, but Peyton covered his mouth.

"He's kind of had a long night, he should just get some sleep, then you can talk to him after," Peyton said and Jake nodded.

After Stuart was safely in his room Jake said, "So, Jenny sure has a way of ruining the moment, hun?"

"Yeah..." Peyton said uncomfortably, wondering what would have happened if Jenny hadn't started crying. As if Jake were reading her mind, he said:

"If she hadn't started crying, do you think we-" Jake started.

"I don't know, Jake. It's getting late, I should probably go." Peyton said really fast. She knew from Jake's expression that she had worried him and that he could tell there was something weird going on with her, but she didn't feel like explaining it. In fact, she didn't even know really what was going on. "Bye," She said and left before he could said a word.

---

Peyton crept as silently as she could, back into her dorm room, before remembering that Brooke wasn't there. She had decided to spend the night at Lucas's dorm. Peyton suddenly felt very dreadful for the way that she left Jake. Why had she even done that? When they had been making out, and on their way to doing more, she was thrilled and excited, but when the subject came up she freaked out. Why was that? She really wished that she had her best friend right now to talk things over with. But she decided that it was a good thing that Brooke wasn't there. If they talked tonight then Peyton would never get sleep. So Peyton decided to try and sleep a little bit.

---

Jake was surprised. He stayed in the same spot for a couple minutes. Should he not have said anything? Did he scare her away? Maybe she really _was_ tired... But he knew that wasn't the case. He had seen the look on her face, there was definitely something bothering her. And he hoped it wasn't him.

After a while, he snapped out of his deep thoughts of Peyton and back to reality. He decided that he should probably sleep, even though he wasn't tired at all. He could at least try. So that's what he did.

But as it turned out, he was now not tired at all and he couldn't sleep. After a couple of minutes of trying to get Peyton out of his head and just sleeping, he got up. He walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge and got himself a RedBull. Of course, that was only going to keep him up more, but since college life was hard and full of staying up all night doing homework, or in Jake's case taking after a child, RedBull was all they bought anymore. _Oh well._

---

Peyton discovered that, try as she might, she could not for the life of her fall asleep. She got up after a while and tried to watch TV for a little bit, but there was nothing but infomercials on, naturally since it was four in the morning. Peyton got fed up with just sitting there, and for the second time that night, felt the need to go and see Jake. So she got up and walked out of her dorm and headed for his.

When she reached his dorm, it took her a couple minutes for her to actually decide if she wanted to knock or not. She didn't want to wake anyone, if they were asleep. But she decided to knock anyway. She knew that Stuart would definitely not wake up, and Jenny slept so soundly that she wouldn't too, and if Jake was asleep and woke up, he probably wouldn't answer. If he was still awake, then he would answer it. And he was, so he did.

"Peyton," was all Jake said when he opened the door to find the blonde who held all his thoughts.

"Hi, can I come in?" Peyton asked with a pleading look on her face. She thought, _God, he must think I'm insane!_ Jake let her in and closed the door behind her. Peyton sat on the couch and Jake followed her. "I'm sorry about all this," Peyton continued, "I just couldn't sleep and I don't know, I guess I assumed that you couldn't sleep either."

"I couldn't," Jake admitted. "So, what happened? I mean, is everything ok?"

"Well, I'm still not quite sure. I mean I wanted to have sex," She said plainly. Jake had a shocked expression, he hadn't expected her to be so straight-forward. "But then when we were talking about, I got freaked out, for some reason, I don't know..."

"Peyton, I didn't mean to pressure you or anything," Jake said.

"No, no you didn't." Peyton said quickly, wanting to reassure him that that wasn't it. "I don't think that 'freaked out' are the right words. It's more like..." Peyton paused, thinking, "It's more like, I realized that it was real. That we were really at that point in the relationship." Peyton tried to explain.

"Well, we don't need to be...?" Jake said uneasily. It was true, that they were in that place in their relationship, and Jake knew that she wanted it, but if she was scared it was better to wait.

Peyton smiled at how cute he was being. Sometimes she really felt like she didn't deserve him. "I want to be. I just needed to realize it. And I have. So... I'm ready." She said certainly, looking deeply in his eyes.

"OK, but not now right?" Jake asked, hating himself for asking it. He was hoping that it would happen now, after her saying that she was ready and all, but of course he had to ruin his chances.

"Oh, right, ya, not now." Peyton said, feeling embarrassed that she actually thought that they would have sex right then. Was that actually what she hoped would happen when she went down there? Well, yes. "So, I guess I should probably go..." Peyton said.

"Yeah, OK," Jake said, his mind and heart screaming 'Don't go!' He leaned down to kiss her goodnight, but received an intense, sensual kissing back on Peyton's part. Definitely not just a sweet good-night kiss. Things continued on this path, and the kiss just kept getting deeper and deeper and soon they were horizontal on the couch, Jake on top.

So they had said that it wouldn't happen tonight, but they were both wishing it would. And it did. It was nothing less magical than they had both expected as their two bodies became one. Afterwards, they were too engrossed in each other that Peyton didn't want to leave and Jake didn't want her to, so she stayed. They fell asleep soon after in each others arms, and in each others hearts.

--

**AN: OK, I hope you liked it! I will try to update soon, it's almost over!! Please leave a review!**

**NEXT:**

**morning after**

**girl talk**


	17. Chapter 17

**AN: Wow, I'm sooooo sorry it took me so long to update! I have no idea where the time goes anymore! Thanks for hanging in there! And thanks for reviewing to: jeytonlover, dancerlittle, and Sophi20! OK guys, here we go with the second to last chapter!**

**Chapter 17**

Peyton woke up early the next morning. It must have been six in the morning, the rain had just started outside. She turned around, still a little groggy, and bumped right into Jake.

"Mmm... hey you," Jake said as he opened his eyes, smilling at her.

"Hi," Peyton answered nervously. It wasn't that she regreted anything, it was just a strange experience for her, she was actually waking up next to someone that loved her. She was really putting herself out there, for better or for worse...

"We should probably get dressed before Jenny or Stuart wake up," Peyton said, reaching down and grabbing her night shirt. She put it on and stood up, making sure she grabbed her pjs and ran to the bathroom.

Jake got dressed in the living room, just thinking about Peyton. These days he could hardly think of anything else. He spent his time during boring lectures just writting songs for her, or playing songs in his head that reminded him of her.

"I think I'm going to go, Brooke should be home soon and she'll wake up the whole dorm if I'm not there waiting for her," Peyton said as she walked out of the bathroom, pulling her hair in a pony tail.

"It's six in the morning." Jake said, simply, as if that explained everything. "Besides, you can't go out in this weather, you'll melt."

Peyton smiled, "What, am I the Wicked Witch of the West?" she answered, pretending to sound hurt.

"You want to go for a walk and find out?" Jake asked. A walk in the rain sounded perfect to him right now. He needed to feel something besides his love for Peyton, just to make sure all this was real. And they had about two hours before Jenny would wake up.

"Ok," Peyton nodded, grabbing his hand and pulling him out the door, giving him just enough time to grab his huge BERKELEY sweatshirt before they were in the hall.

When they got outside, Peyton did a couple twirls in the rain, laughing, motioning for Jake to come with her.

He smiled, watching her get soaked and slowly walked out to her, putting one shoulder of the jacket around her, and the other around him.

"Thanks, Jake," Peyton said, turning her face so that their lips were just centimeters away from each other.

"No problem..." Jake answered, leaning in slowly.

"Do you have money in your jacket?" Peyton yelled, quickly running out of his arms and across the street to Starbucks...

---

"Well, Goldie Locks, looks like you found a bed just your size last night... in Jake Jegelski's bed room!" Brooke said, triumphantly when Peyton finally walked into their room.

"Yeah, Peyton, tell us everything!" Haley said, laughing at Brooke.

"And don't leave anything out, or you die." Brooke said, walking over and sitting on Peyton's bed next to Haley as Peyton sat down across from them.

"Wait!" Brooke yelled, putting her hand up, "That must have been one crazy night if you couldn't even find your clothes in the morning!"

"Brooke!" Haley scolded, blushing.

Peyton smiled softly to herself, "I needed some clothes to change into after our mornign walk in the rain so he let me borrow some stuff."

Haley and Brooke exchanged glances and giggled.

"Ok, now hurry up, honey, and dish some dirt cause my plane leaves in 4 hours!" Haley said, clapping her hands together...

---

"Anyways, so, now it's just kind of scary, I guess...Well, not scary just...I mean, I guess it's just all unknown now, you know?"

"Yeah, man, but Peyton's no Nikki, it's not like that's going to happen twice," Nathan reasured.

"And, I bet she feels the same way. I mean, this is Peyton, she has 'Trust Issues' written all over her. And now that she trusts you, it's all up to chance," Lucas said, trying to sound as if he knew what he was talking about. He was still thinking about Brooke, and everything they had talked about last night. It was the only thing he could think about. In fact, he actually couldn't wait for Nathan and Haley to leave so that he could go get the promise ring for her.

"Yeah, I guess," Jake said, "But, I did hurt her before, maybe she thinks I'll do that again and pull out of this relationship."

"Listen, Jake, you can't think of all that. It'll kill you in the end, trust me. I mean, when Haley and I first got to UCLA, I was jealous of every guy she talked to. I thought: what if she meets someone else? What if it turns out that we don't really know what love is and we were just being stupid? Seriously though, once I insisted that I go to study group with her just cause this guy was going to be there." Nathan said.

"What happened?" Jake asked, thinking that maybe, that wasn't such a bad idea...

"I slept on the couch for a week." Nathan said, laughing.

---

**AN: Alright, that's where I leave you. Sorry if it wasn't very satisfying! Hopefully I'll get it together and post the next chapter very very soon!!! Next one is the last one! Reviews are greatly appreciated! Thanks!**


	18. Chapter 18

**AN: Thanks so much for reviewing to: jeytonlover, onetreefan, and dancerlittle! As I've said before I wrote this story and very very very long time ago, so it's been really great to re-live it and share it with more people! Thank you so much for the constant support! Enjoy the last chapter of Simply Because!**

**Chapter 18**

Nathan and Haley flew back to Los Angeles later that evening and everyone was sad to say goodbye to them. But Nathan and Haley had each other. It seemed like everywhere they went they left a trail of happiness. While some might find it disgusting that they were so deeply in love, Brooke, Lucas, Peyton and Jake could only hope that they would be that happy in the years to come.

Of course, Peyton knew that her love for Jake was as real and as strong as Nathan and Haley's, she also knew that she wasn't ready for such a commitment that was marriage. Sex was already a pretty big step for her, even though she had already done it before. But when you were in love it was different. She felt like every choice she made would have a huge impact on their relationship.

Jake was pretty much flustered for the rest of the week. He was also wondering about his and Peyton's relationship and that of Nathan and Haley. But while Nathan wouldn't struggle in his classes- he married his tutor, Jake could hardly concentrate in his classes, and Peyton was just his girlfriend.

It would get to a point when he couldn't remember if he had brushed his teeth so he just brushed them again, but then instead of grabbing the toothpaste he would grab the after-shave. He was so out of it. Normaly he would just laugh about it and try to knock some sense back into himself, but this time it was different. A girl never had this much of a hold on him, it was an incredible, intense feeling. And Jake loved every second of it.

---

When they were together, it seemed awkward, like they wanted to say something but didn't. It was as if they had just started dating and neither of them wanted to say something stupid or embarrassing. And when they were not together, they were busy spacing out about each other and wanting to be together. It was crazy and tiresome.

"Jake!" Peyton yelled from across the park. Her class had been on one end of the campus and his on the other; they had agreed to meet for lunch at the park. Just the sight of him got Peyton excited and her heart pounding louder and faster. She broke out into a run and sprinted towards him.

A broad smile spread across Jake's face at the sight of how happy Peyton was to see him. He stoped where he was as she approached him and help out his arms for her to jump into.

The second she landed into his arms she attached her lips to his, something she had been needing to do since they had said goodbye that morning. Jake set her down on the ground, without breaking the kiss. Unaware, and not caring about the strangers in the park watching them, Jake led them so that Peyton was against a tree nearby, all this still without breaking their lip-lock.

Peyton could feel her heart beating louder and louder every time his tongue collided with hers, and at the feeling of him holding her waist tight. Jake felt like he was going crazy, the way her hands felt in his hair, her lips felt on his, he felt like he was loosing consciousness and just drowning in a dream.

When air became a necessity, they pulled away, and just stayed for a while, their foreheads pressed together, and catching their breath.

"Ew, total PDA!" Brooke exclaimed with Lucas at her side, snickering.

"Yeah, like you weren't making out with Lucas this morning outside the dorms?" Peyton said sarcastically.

"That was different. That was against a building, it's more classy. Agaist a tree there're ants," She shivered, "Gross."

Lucas laughed and pulled Brooke closer to him and whispered something in her ear. She rolled her eyes. "Fine," she said, as Jake and Peyton looked at her curiously, "I'll let this one go. We're going to go to lunch. See ya, Jegelski's!" She said before her and Lucas left hand in hand.

"Wow, Brooke has so much energy," Jake was saying but Peyton wasn't really listening. She was thinking about what Brooke had said: 'Jegelski's'. She was joking, right?

"I'm not ready for marriage!" Peyton blurted out. _Oh Gosh_, she thought, _did I just say that out loud?_ She covered her mouth with her hand right after and her cheeks blushed in embarrassment.

"What?" Jake asked confused. Did she just said she wasn't ready for marriage? Or was there something wrong with his hearing?

"Nothing," Peyton said avoiding his eyes, "I didn't said anything. So, where do you want to go for-"

"Peyton, come on, what's going on?" Jake asked concerned. Putting his arms out on the tree, trapping her in between the tree and him forcing her to tell him.

"I just..." Peyton started. _Come on_, Peyton told herself, _spit it out!_ "I'm just not ready for marriage, that's all. Just wanted to make that clear."

Jake nodded slowly. "Ok..." He said still trying to process all this, "Peyton, do you mind if I ask something?"

"No," She said.

"Who said anything about marriage?"

"Well..." Peyton started to say. How did this marriage thing come up again? "It's just that, we've been getting pretty serious. And I don't really know how much you're expecting of me..."

"Peyton, I wasn't exp-"

"And it's been kind of weird lately, you know? And I figured it's because neither of us really said where we stood now, and we were both wondering about it," Peyton finished.

Jake took a deep breath then gazed into her eyes so intensly that Peyton was forced to gaze right back, "Where do you think we stand?" He asked.

"I know that I love you. And I know that what we shared that night was... amazing. And I _don't_ know what you expect of me now. So... I guess that's where I think we stand..." She said trying to make sense. Was he understanding any of this?

A small smile grew on Jake's face, "Peyton, I didn't expect you to want to get married or anything. I'm not ready for that either. I think that it's really important that now, at the stage that we're at in this relationship, that we can just talk about things. Anything."

"I know, and we _can_ talk about anything," Peyton said, playing with his hair a little.

"I love you, Peyton. And I'm so happy with where we are right now. I can't think straight because you're all I think about, and when I close my eyes all I see is you, and I love it." Jake said.

Peyton blushed again and looked down at the ground. How was she supposed to respond to that? How on earth did Jake always find the perfect thing to say? Slowly, Jake lifted Peyton's chin up and dipped in to kiss her passionately.

And they were both in pure bliss, and deeply in love. Not because they were getting married. And not because they were not commited in some way. There really isn't an exact reason. That was just the way it was, _simply because_.

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**AN: OK, so that's it for this story! I hope you were satisfied with it! Reviews are greatly appreciated! Thank you all so much for reading this story!**


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